Current shower/tub seats of the subject character are generally of a nature adapted to be permanently mounted to the wall within a shower stall or above a bathtub, and therefore are both difficult to mount and not amenable to removal for cleaning or storage. A general object of the present invention is to provide a shower/tub seat that is adapted to be removably suspended from a grab bar or the like within a shower stall or above a bathtub. Another and more specific object of the present invention is to provide a shower/tub seat of the described character that is economical to assembly, that may be readily mounted and demounted from within the shower stall or above the bathtub, and that may be marketed either alone or as a kit in combination with the grab bar.
A shower/tub seat in accordance with the present invention comprises a pair of inverted U-shaped hangers adapted to be removably received over a horizontal bar affixed to a shower/tub wall so as to have inner hanger legs adjacent to the wall and outer hanger legs remote from the wall. A platform is pivotally mounted to the lower ends of the outer hanger legs so as to pivot between a vertical position in abutment with the outer hanger legs and a horizontal position for use. The platform has an end edge adjacent to the wall that engages the wall and the lower ends of the inner hanger legs in the horizontal position of the platform so as to hold the platform in horizontal position and support the weight of a person or objects placed on the platform. Preferably, a pair of adjustable abutment feet are mounted on the lower ends of the inner hanger legs for adjusting horizontal orientation of the seat within the shower stall or over the bathtub.
In one embodiment of the invention, the platform is constructed of welded metal tube stock and a water repellant cover of molded plastic composition. The platform frame has facility for accepting an extension, so that the basic frame may be employed for constructing a platform of generally rectangular geometry without the extension, or an L-shaped platform with the extension. The inverted U-shaped hangers are of round tube stock, and are integrally joined to each other by a length of tube stock that extends between the hangers. A hinge is affixed to the platform frame and pivotally embraces the length of tube stock that extends between the hangers. The seat may be marketed alone, either in rectangular or L-shaped configuration as described, or may be marketed as a kit with a grab bar to be affixed to the shower or tub wall for suspending the seat.
In a second embodiment of the invention, the platform frame comprises lengths of generally rectangular tube stock having brackets for affixing each length to the lower ends of the outer hanger legs. A nylon bearing encompasses the end of each outer hanger leg, and the associated bracket is affixed to the hanger leg externally of the bearing by threaded elements that pivotally mount the bracket and associated frame tube segment to the hanger leg while functioning as a friction brake so as to help hold the platform in the raised position. A seat of molded plastic construction joins the frame tube sections to each other so as to form a seat assembly pivotally mounted to the hanger legs as described above.